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This is before Nash's time, obviously Nash has seen all footage of both guys, but to anyone who was a boxing fan back then, was this ever in the works? Timeline-wise, Rocky Balboa, although he had been boxing for a while, came into the public eye in 1976; at this point Ali was considered number 1 HW. Rocky instead fought Apollo Creed for a version of the HW World Championship, losing a split-decision, but gaining tons of fans, especially from Philadelphia. Rocky had other fights and great wins leading up to his rematch with Creed, which was 3 years later in 1979. Rocky then beat Creed and became a World Champion. Ali also never fought Creed, but I guess the demand was higher for Creed vs Balboa 2, given how close the first bout was.
So, now we are in 1979, and Rocky Balboa has a version of the World Championship. At this moment in time, Ali is retired, after winning a rematch against Spinks. Ali came back in 1980, but he was clearly affected at this stage. If Ali were prime Ali, Nash believes he would have fought Balboa instead of Holmes. Nash also believes that if Ali beat Holmes, he would have then taken on Balboa, but things did not pan out. With Holmes winning, and being quite a boring fighter in personality and style, a Holmes fight likely did not appeal that much to Rocky, who had fought bigger and better guys and bigger names.
When Ali came back in 1981 to face Berbick, everyone knew Ali was done, so Ali vs Balboa was not on at this stage. Ali retired on June 27, 1979, before his two-fight comeback. Let's scratch 1979 (retired), but was there a window in 1977 and 1978 that Ali and Balboa could have happened?
In May 1977 Ali beat Alfredo Evangelista, in a fight that was not very high profile, but that was coming off the back of a controversial win in the Ken Norton 3 fight, and could have been seen as a warm up bout for his Spetember 1977 fight with Earnie Shaves. In 1978 Ali fought and lost, surprisingly, to Leon Spinks, so the rematch was the obvious choice for his second fight that year.
Nash believes the two windows that were possible for Ali vs Balboa, were both thrown out by Ali losses. Had Ali beat Spinks in fight 1, he would have fought Balboa later that year (1978), rather than rematch Spinks. That would have been the best time for the fight. The second window was Ali vs Holmes, and if Ali won that fight, we would have got Ali vs Balboa then (1980). It's a shame this fight never happened. We'll always wonder who would have won, but it's still great to look back on the timeline of the events around that period of HW boxing. Nash out - His Majesty
So, now we are in 1979, and Rocky Balboa has a version of the World Championship. At this moment in time, Ali is retired, after winning a rematch against Spinks. Ali came back in 1980, but he was clearly affected at this stage. If Ali were prime Ali, Nash believes he would have fought Balboa instead of Holmes. Nash also believes that if Ali beat Holmes, he would have then taken on Balboa, but things did not pan out. With Holmes winning, and being quite a boring fighter in personality and style, a Holmes fight likely did not appeal that much to Rocky, who had fought bigger and better guys and bigger names.
When Ali came back in 1981 to face Berbick, everyone knew Ali was done, so Ali vs Balboa was not on at this stage. Ali retired on June 27, 1979, before his two-fight comeback. Let's scratch 1979 (retired), but was there a window in 1977 and 1978 that Ali and Balboa could have happened?
In May 1977 Ali beat Alfredo Evangelista, in a fight that was not very high profile, but that was coming off the back of a controversial win in the Ken Norton 3 fight, and could have been seen as a warm up bout for his Spetember 1977 fight with Earnie Shaves. In 1978 Ali fought and lost, surprisingly, to Leon Spinks, so the rematch was the obvious choice for his second fight that year.
Nash believes the two windows that were possible for Ali vs Balboa, were both thrown out by Ali losses. Had Ali beat Spinks in fight 1, he would have fought Balboa later that year (1978), rather than rematch Spinks. That would have been the best time for the fight. The second window was Ali vs Holmes, and if Ali won that fight, we would have got Ali vs Balboa then (1980). It's a shame this fight never happened. We'll always wonder who would have won, but it's still great to look back on the timeline of the events around that period of HW boxing. Nash out - His Majesty
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